Maharoof shines in Sri Lankan victory

Chris Dhambarage reporting from Dambulla

CRICKET: All rounder Farveez Maharoof snapped up four key wickets during a hostile spell of bowling as Sri Lanka drew first blood defeating England by 119 runs in the first day night one day international worked off at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday.

The right arm fast bowler sent down his ten overs on the trot and had success in his first, third, fourth and tenth overs as he finished with outstanding figures of four wickets for 31 runs as England were bowled out for 150 from 34.5 overs while chasing Sri Lanka's challenging total of 269 for 7.

Maharoof who came into the attack as the fourth change bowler responded magnificently by removing the top three England batsmen for the addition of just 30 runs and within a space of five overs.

Maharoof had a tough task as the England openers Alistair Cook and Phil Mustard had got off to a flying start and were maintaining the required run rate. The pair were just beginning to open out with Mustard hoisting a six and stroking a four from consecutive deliveries off paceman Chaminda Vaas.

However the conditions certainly suited the more friendly pace of Maharoof who moved the ball to a great extent helped by the strong winds blowing across the Dambulla Stadium. In just under three overs he completely changed the complexion of the game by removing Mustard, Bell and the prize scalp of Kevin Pieterson.

In fact wicket keeper batsman Mustard making his one day international debut for England was really threatening to take control of the situation having raced to 27 from only 17 deliveries with the help of one six and three boundaries.

This was followed by two splendid deliveries that really surprised Ian Bell and Kevin Pieterson as England slumped to 60 for 3 by the 14th over.

Maharoof kept on attacking the off stump at regular basis and was rewarded for some accurate bowling. He then finished off in style by ending the stubborn resistance of opener Alistair Cook in his tenth and last over. Cook held on determinedly until the 25th over before he lost his concentration and offered wicket keeper Sangakkara his third victim.

Before that skipper Paul Collingwod made his exit in a disappointing manner and when Owais Shah was deceived by a slow delivery from Lasith Malinga, England had lost half of their side for 91 runs.

They never recovered from thereonwards as the Lankans added the finishing touches in style to go one up in the five match series.

Earlier Skipper Mahela Jayawardena hit a solid half century to guide Sri Lanka to a formidable 269 for 7 from their 50 overs. The elegant right hander completed his 42nd one day international fifty after the openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga had provided with a solid start.

But it was skipper Jayawardena who actually consolidated the innings with some intelligent bating on a slow wicket after he had won the toss and elected to bat first.

Jayawardena was prepared to wait for the loose deliveries and stroked just three boundaries during his top score of 66 from 73 deliveries.

But he also decided to work the ball into the gaps and took the singles during a fourth wicket stand of 59 runs from 60 balls with Chamara Silva. This was after Jayasuriya and Tharanga set the pace with a opening stand of 71 runs from 12 overs.

Jayasuriya was shaping up well for a big score having raced to 41 from 35 deliveries with the help of one six and five boundaries.

However Ryan Sidebottom celebrated his return to the England side by claiming an important breakthrough to end a productive opening stand between Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga.

Sri Lanka's performance was even more significant considering the fact that this was one of the highest scores recorded at this venue. Sri Lanka of course made a slow start to the match and were quite happy to study the conditions during the early stages of the innings.

Tharanga and Jayasuriya crawled to 11 without loss in the first four overs of the day as England's seamers struggled with the strong winds at the Dambulla Stadium. In fact it took Sri Lanka five overs before they registered their first boundary with Tharanga forcing Anderson off the back foot behind point for four.

That was the signal for the pair to open out with Jayasuriya claiming two boundaries in Sidebottom's next over and then launched Anderson over long on for the first six of the innings.

Just as Jayasuriya seemed set for another explosive innings Sidebottom struck to end his innings - just two balls after England had given him a reprieve.

England claimed their second victim five overs later as Sri Lanka's scoring rate slowed down when Tharanga was surprised by a slower bouncer from Stuart Broad and chipped lamely to captain Paul Collingwood at backward point for 40.

Sri Lanka had earlier left out leg-spinner Kausal Lokuarachchi in favour of an extra batsman in Jehan Mubarak, while England delivered a shock of their own by preferring Graeme Swann's off-spin to left-arm spinner Monty Panesar.

SRI LANKA

U. Tharanga c Collingwood b Broad 	 40
S. Jayasuriya c Bopara b Sidebottom	 41
K. Sangakkara st Mustard b Swann 	 38
M. Jayawardene c Shah b Collingwood 	 66
C. Silva c Cook b Collingwood		 33
T. Dilshan not out 			 11
J. Mubarak c Anderson b Broad 		  1
F. Maharoof c Anderson b Sidebottom	 22
C. Vaas not out				  1
Extras (b3, lb5, w8) 			 16
TOTAL (for seven wickets)		269

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-71 (Jayasuriya), 2-95 (Tharanga), 3-166 (Sangakkara),
4-225 (Jayawardene), 5-237 (Silva), 6-240 (Mubarak), 7-264 (Maharoof).
BOWLING: Anderson 8-0-47-0, Sidebottom 10-0-56-2, Broad 10-0-54-2, 
Collingwood 10-0-44-2, Swann 10-0-47-1, Shah 2-0-13-0


ENGLAND

A. Cook c Sangakkara b Maharoof		 46
P. Mustard c Malinga b Maharoof		 27
I. Bell c Sangakkara b Maharoof		  0
K. Pietersen c Sangakkara b Maharoof	  1
P. Collingwood c Jayawardene b Fernando	  9
O. Shah c Mubarak b Malinga		  7
R. Bopara not out			 27
G. Swann c Malinga b Dilshan		 24
S. Broad run out			  1
R. Sidebottom st Sangakkara b Dilshan	  2
J. Anderson c Jayawardene b Jayasuriya	  0
EXTRAS (w6)				  6
TOTAL					150

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-43 (Mustard), 2-58 (Bell), 3-60 (Pietersen), 
4-73 (Collingwood), 5-91 (Shah), 6-102 (Cook), 7-144 (Swann), 
8-145 (Broad), 9-149 (Sidebottom).
BOWLING: Vaas 5-0-32-0, Malinga 6-0-32-1, Fernando 7-0-23-1, 
Maharoof 10-2-31-4, Dilshan 4-0-20-2, Jayasuriya 2.5-0-12-1.
Umpires: Asoka de Silva (SRI) 
Rudi Koertzen (RSA)
TV umpire: Tyron Wijewardene (SRI)
Match-referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)